Dangerous Organised Chaos
An entitled prince, at war with the pillars the monarchy exists to protect. Something has to give. The King must stop indulging his errant son for the sake of the Crown.
The High Court has spoken.
On Tuesday, Mr Justice Nicklin dismissed every allegation the Duke of Sussex and his fellow claimants brought against Associated Newspapers. All of them. A 436-page judgment. A comprehensive victory for the Daily Mail and for the free Press.
Harry called it a whitewash. He would. Beaten in court, he then questioned the judge who had ruled against him. It was extraordinary. It was reckless.
I have watched this prince - who is still fifth in the line of succession -for years. The pattern rarely changes. He sues. If he loses he blames the system. Then he begins again.
That is the real danger - not one man’s grievance, but what the grievance sets in motion.
Consider the pillars of our national life in his father’s Kingdom. A free Press. An independent judiciary. An elected government.
A monarchy - of which his father is the embodiment- that stands above the fray.
Harry has taken aim at three of them. He sued the King’s government over his security. He accused a national newspaper of criminality -and lost, overwhelmingly. Now he casts doubt on the court itself.
And yet he remains fifth in line to the throne.
There is the conflict. A senior prince, a heartbeat from history, at war with the very institutions the Crown exists to serve. It cannot hold.
The King’s advisers, led by Sir Clive Alderton, understand this, even when Harry - not the sharpest tool in the shed - fails to.
Wisely, no royal residence became a stage for the drama.
Picture it - Harry firing off his defiant statement whilst residing at the palace, seen as the HQ of the Crown. It would have been a catastrophe. It was avoided. Barely.
But avoidance is not a plan. The royal family must choose. Distance – clear, calm and final. Or drift, and let the chaos spread.
The monarchy cannot serve two masters. It never could.
The only mystery is why the king has allowed this farce to continue for so long. It’s reckless, tiresome and dangerous.
Robert…..not long ago I retired. I wore a few different hats as a Deputy Clerk, elections and working in the court room sitting next to the judge taking the minutes on civil cases and recording the days proceedings. Harry reminds me of this man a little younger than Harry that would come into our office to complain about his case. He lost and had no other avenue to pursue. It was over, done. Every day he would yell at me there must be something you can do. He would read through his file and leave. Next day same thing until he became so difficult and angry, that I told him that he needed to stop and leave, we were done. Harry is just the same. His security, his court case with the Daily mail. Never able to accept when someone tells them it is final and the answer was and will forever be NO. King Charles needs to understand that narcissistic entitled Harry will never stop and go away unless he puts an end to it, where he cannot hurt the monarchy, for the sake of his Grandson George. Strip all of the Sussex titles and be done. Harry will keep trying but eventually no one will respond or listen to his nonsense.